A small study is presenting evidence suggesting a strange possible outcome of a COVID-19 infection during pregnancy: higher risk of obesity for the child.
Specifically, researchers observed a pattern of U.S. women who had COVID-19 at some point during their pregnancy and gave birth to infants with a lower initial weight, who then gained weight much faster than other babies.
“Our findings suggest that children exposed in utero to maternal COVID-19 have an altered growth pattern in early life that may increase their risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease over time,†Lindsay T. Fourman, a doctor with Massachusetts General Hospital and one of the study authors, “There is still a lot of research needed to understand the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their children.â€
While previous studies have looked into the impacts of COVID-19 on pregnant people and found that they are more likely to experience severe disease compared to non-pregnant people with COVID-19, the impacts of the virus on the infant is still largely unknown.
In order to assess the impacts of COVID-19 during pregnancy on the infants, researchers looked at just under 280 infants who were born during the pandemic prior to June 2021 and had received care at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Infants were not included in the study if their mother had received a vaccination during pregnancy or had unclear vaccination status.
Around 150 infants in the study had mothers who contracted COVID-19 at some point in their pregnancy, while around 130 infants were carried by mothers with a COVID-free pregnancy. All were at least 12 months of age when researchers carried out data collection and analysis.
Most of the mothers in the study who had contracted COVID-19 had a mild disease in their third trimester.
Exposure to COVID-19 in-utero was associated with a lower birth weight even when researchers controlled for aspects such as maternal age, ethnicity and socioeconomic factors such as insurance status. The same was true for the infants’ patterns of weight gain over the first year of their lives, with in-utero exposure to the virus associated with a different pattern than the control group, along with more weight gain.
The absolute difference in the weight gain between infants with in-utero exposure to the virus and those without was small, but researchers say a trend was still clear.
It’s unclear what impact this early weight gain will have for this cohort of children and whether it will be consequential or not, although the study noted that “lower birth weight and accelerated postnatal weight gain are risk factors for cardiometabolic disease.â€
It’s important to note that this research is constrained by the short amount of time that has passed since the first relevant study group was born, meaning that it’s also going to be unclear for a while whether this trend continues into childhood or whether larger studies will find the same results.
But as countries leave behind public health measures, more pregnant people are being exposed to COVID-19, leaving unknown impacts that call for further monitoring and research in the future.
Pregnant women made up around nine per cent of reproductive-aged women with SARS-CoV-2 infections in the U.S., according to a 2020 study referenced by researchers.
Although data is limited across Canada, there had been at least 9,000 instances of a pregnant person contracting COVID-19 in Canada as of January 2022, according to a tracker run by the University of British Columbia.
These figures together suggest that thousands of babies worldwide may be born to parents who had the virus at some point during pregnancy.
“Our findings emphasize the importance of long-term follow-up of children exposed in utero to maternal COVID-19 infection, as well as widespread implementation of COVID-19 prevention strategies among pregnant individuals,†Andrea G. Edlow, a doctor with the Massachusetts General Hospital and another study author, said in the release. “Larger studies with longer follow-up duration are needed to confirm these associations.â€
The Israeli military targeted a top Hezbollah figure in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, two security sources in Lebanon said, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
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Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
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Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind†due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.
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Driving into the tunnels of Nutrien's Rocanville mine, the largest potash mine in the world by production volume, feels like driving down a lonely highway in the middle of the night.
Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.
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An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
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An Elgin County community is expected to double in size as plans for multiple residential developments loom. The Township of Southwold expects shovels in the ground as early as 2025.
Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Ontario Provincial Police executed a search warrant in Walkerton.
On Thursday, just after 9:30 a.m., a man was found and taken to police headquarters, where he was released with conditions and a future court date.
Standing up, speaking out, and showing solidarity — survivors and supporters gathered in the core to take back the night in Windsor. The city is just one of a growing list of communities that have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.
The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has seized over $56,000 in drugs and have arrested one suspect.
In a rare move, the Greater Victoria School District Board of Education has been slapped with a ministerial order from the province requiring it to update a student safety plan – drawing concern around political posturing leading up to an election.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.
To appreciate why Mimi Vandermolen is so pleased to notice one particular vehicle she’s walking past, you need to know that seeing this many cars in one place would have been unimaginable when she was growing-up in the post-war Netherlands.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.
A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.
Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.
A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.
North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.
Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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